The Importance of Cultural Differences in the Society and Its Impact on Every Field of the Society - Research Paper Example

Culture is an integral part of the today’s society. When we talk about the cross cultural encounters we are aware of the fact that they provide an excellent opportunity for understanding ourselves and the world. There is an opportunity for personal growth and in making we realize the importance of what we believe in. In a country like United States there is a huge variety of cultural dimensions and they are often ignored especially when the concept of personal growth is taken into account. This happens because the concept of individualism in USA obscures the importance of culture in the self constitution phase. Generally cross cultural encounters are viewed and taken into account as they have a potential to become creative and in exploring the creativity which is present around. When we talk about culture, there are different cultures all around the world and these cultures have different impact on the people, sometimes these impacts are good and sometimes they are negative. If we take an example of the Penan tribe and the culture which they have, it basically constitutes of the tribe with people living in the town and having money to purchase whatever they want. 1. Do you agree with Bruce Parry’s view that “to understand a culture you need to live amongst it – to become, for a while, one of the tribe”? Bruce Parry as “The Absconder” who was basically trying to study culture and he was living a life totally devoted towards the cultural study (Atwong, C. T., and I. L. Lange. 1996). They were living in the heart of community and totally left and broke their connection with the outside world and they contact with the world for months to get proper knowledge about the culture. Adaptation behaviors by Craig’s (1979) Also with time culture evolves so it is important to spend time with people following the culture or live in the society where the culture is followed to have a better understanding of the culture of the society or the tribe. One can adopt various behaviors and from the Craig’s behavior one can also adopt ways through which cultural study can be carried out, it can either be through the deserter method or becoming an absconder to know about culture. Another way is to summarize everything or to have a proper or deep understanding of the multi ethnic factor which exists in the society. 2. Is it important to preserve the uniqueness of cultures? Why? What are the advantages of cultural differences? And what is lost if cultures are eradicated? Preservation when it comes to culture heritage basically refers to the activities which are associated with maintaining and having records of cultural artifacts in library, museum or archival in the original physical form or in any other format. If the cultural property is properly protected it can eliminate and minimize chemical and physical damage and from loss of important and informational content. It is extremely important to preserve uniqueness of cultures are it helps in prolonging the reality of cultural property. Preservation of cultural heritage is important protecting heritage from the dark days of slavery to the colonialism period and the entire history till today. It helps in sharing and spreading and information to the outside world related to the cultural, historical and also special artifacts which mean something for the society and the culture. Museum are the places where these artifacts are saved and protected and these can portray the culture to the children and also the outsiders which can play an integral role in propagating it to the outside world. These cultural preservations help in keeping a connection in interrelated cultural, economic, social and also political exchanges. This affirms the identity of people as it can help in creating a comprehensive framework which is linked with having a historical value and also having cultural significance. 3. To reflect on what are some of the difficulties of encountering different cultures? What skills are needed? Give examples from your own experiences. Culture and heritage is very important for a nation as it reflects and also shape beliefs, values and also aspirations which are important for the society and it defining the national identity of people. Preservation of culture helps in keeping integrity of people which is very important. Culture preservation is basically a manifestation of expression and of belief. If a culture is not stored or the cultural heritages are allowed to be wasted, it has a negative impact on the society and there is a possibility that the culture will get extinct. It is important to preserve culture has it can increase the expertise into higher level of education along with increasing integration amongst the society which is extremely important and also beneficial. It helps in promotion of cultural heritage along with providing a joint cooperation between the academics and also professionals so that a common goal can be achieved. Societies which focus on investing in cultural heritage preservation can prevent bankruptcy of culture. If the culture is not preserved or stored and we let our cultural heritage to be destroyed by non human and also human sources then nobody will understand and realize the importance of culture. I had to face a lot of difficulties in adapting to new cultures as what is right in one culture like Western culture, is wrong in Asian culture or even in European culture. One needs to mould their activities and personalities according to the place where they are living in. Language is not something which becomes an issue; in fact the behavior and actions of people are what causes trouble when meeting and spending time with people from different cultural backgrounds Topic 2: Self Analysis: The implications of national culture: the example of parenting and childrearing. It is extremely important to understand the need of national culture ien the society and also to understand how culture varied from society to society and from culture to culture. If we take a deep look into the British culture and heritage, we will have a vivid picture of how the British culture is different from other cultures and the factors which makes British culture different from other cultures like the Thai culture. Power distance is something which acts as an important distinguishing factor between the British culture and other cultures of the society. This concept basically states the fact that in a society all the individuals are not equal and it also expresses and talks about the attitude of the culture with respect to the inequalities which exist between them. Power distance is basically the extent to which members of the institution having less power within a country would actually accept and also expect power is unequally distributed. 1. To reflect on some of the reactions you have witnessed to YOUR culture (Thai culture) in terms of ideas on parenting/childbearing. To reflect on some of your reactions to ANOTHER CULTURE (British culture) in terms of ideas of parenting and childrearing? British culture is a very different culture if compared to other cultures like Thai culture. When we talk about family, the family is the corner stone of Thai society. Family life is often more closely knit than in the western culture or society. In the Thai family, it is majorly in a form of hierarchy where the parents basically come at the top. In Thai culture oppose to the British culture, children are educated or trained to always make sure that they respect and honor their parents. Thai make sure that they respect hierarchical relationships and children should believe that their parents are superior to themselves; teachers are superior to their students and bosses to their subordinates. Younger must respect elder and always make sure that they listen to their advice. Children should have gratitude towards their parents. Worst insult for a Thai person is basically to be deemed ungrateful. Often Thai children continue to live in their parent’s house even if they are old enough to live in their own life, which is totally different in British or American culture. When girls especially are grown up in the Thai society, they should not leave their parent’s home if they are not married. An independent girl is a center of attraction for the society, if she is living along then people talk about her in a bad way. They mock her and often say things which are bad and against her character. Thai people are not fond of westerner principle which is basically to send old parents in special nursing home. Thai people say that it is not a nice way to thank parents or to acknowledge the hard work of the parents who are done for the children or to thank parents for all the goodness they did. Thai people believe in family living together and providing assurance to the children that they are living for the parents and they are there for them. This is something which is totally absent in the British society which promotes freedom and independence of not only boys and grownups but also women. Where in Thai culture girl living alone is a shame for the society, a girl in British culture is taught and trained to live alone and independently where she is working for her own self. She is taking all the decisions for herself and is earning for herself only. In British culture everyone is treated equally and same amount of importance is given to everyone whether they are parents, children, teachers or even students. Parents themselves train their kids to live their house and become independent after a certain age. - 2. What relevance/impact do these differences in parenting/childrearing have on the workplace/work environment? Another important contributing factor is the importance of historical context and the relevance it has especially keeping in mind the cultural differences. History always plays a very important and impactful role in shaping the national culture because heritage stays the same. Hofstede in 1994 basically conducted a study to understand and analyze the factors which had an impact on the culture and the society from factors like power distance, individualism and collectivism, masculinity vs femininity and then uncertainty avoidance. All these four factors are a scale between two extremes and there is no national culture which is at the other extreme. The Topic 3: Chinese Business Culture: Personal connections (Guanxi) When taking into account the traditional Maoist approaches which are not existent in the Chinese society anymore and when we understand the past approaches which have played a significant and important role in dealing with the new China. Chinese culture is a mix of variety of things, working under the communist regime, the structure of China was basically associated with the individuals who had a group connection with Dan Wei culture basically provided Chinese workers security throughout their working life from cradle to grave thus this mentality still exist in the mentality of Chinese people and it lingers on in large measures (Messnarz, R., and C. Tully. 1999) Chinese workers had a lot of risk factor linked with them as it was very dangerous and risky for the workers to leave the security of Dan Wei as all the rights which they has would be automatically cancelled and this was not something they would want as there factors were basic necessities which the workers wanted. Leaving the membership would mean a cut off from basic necessities like accommodation, food and even medical assistance. In China there is a business culture where overseas companies who plan to set up operations in China start with a joint venture with a Chinese organization. There are many advantages which the company and also China is receiving by doing this. 1. Reflect on the importance of Guanxi to British companies in China. The most important benefit which joint venture concept brings is that it helps the overseas entity in establishing relations with the Chinese. Guanxi or personal connections thus play a very important role in the culture of China. These are very important and they play a vital role in developing the business situation. It is a common statement that if you are living in China it is important that you have a Guanxi because if you don’t have that then you have nothing. When joint ventures are formed companies would seem to be an efficient and also the most effective way in developing good quality and effective relationships in a country like China. The business culture of China also brings a lot of risk for other overseas companies as they have to make sure that they are selecting the right kind of joint venture partner. In Chinese Business culture, product compatibility is not very important; more importance is given to the connection (Davison, A. G. 2001).Exactly like that cost is not something which is important in Chinese business culture instead of that proper and convenient access to a skilled workforce holds more importance. In a Confucian society, it is expected along with operational structures, management style and also chains of command. This is important as there is an introduction of more matrix oriented approaches which are important to lead to conflicts which are linked with local expectations. Guanxi is basically a well documented along with being an integral and essential part of doing business in China. Market liberalization in China continues and there are proper indications that the strategic importance of this in Chinese culture will decline. When the joint venture perspective is taken into account there is a strategic importance which is associated with it too which can decline. Keeping in mind the experts’ opinion Guanxi is a famous and widely used concept in China which is diminishing. There are many factors which basically contribute in showing the importance of guanxi which is basically declining; these factors include liberalization, guanxi learning along with outward investment. 2. How accessible do you find the ideas of Guanxi?, how useful do you find them?, how interesting do you find them?, and give an example. The British companies who are planning to start with joint ventures in China also have to follow the Guanxi as it is an important cultural factor in China. We can see this keeping in mind the important factors and the cultural points like the long term orientation versus the short term orientation (Biró, M. 2000).Also Chinese society is following collectivism where the entire society is working for the betterment of the society and on the other hand British culture is based on individualistic factors and society. Topic 4: Teams and Cultural Differences: Forest Fire group exercise. This topic aims to encourage me to analyse my own personal experience as I work in culturally mixed teams. During week ten seminar, I was assigned to work in a Forest Fire group exercise. The purposes of this exercise is to work in culturally mixed teams and to devise a method of coming to agreement on a difficult issue where there is a clear moral dilemma involving saving the lives of people of different nationalities. There were four people in this group. The most important challenge that I had to face while undertaking this group exercise was that members of the group were from different nationalities i.e. Italian, American, Thai and Pakistani. We had an argument about the criteria our group had considered and used to make decisions on the order of saving the people caught in the fire. We came up with different criteria such as, age, gender, young children, leadership and contribution to society but none of us were based their criteria on nationalities. The conflict arose during discussion between team members because we had different ideas and criteria. In order to resolve our group decision agreement, the results of our group discussion was based on majority agreement instead but the conflict still continuing. My criteria were based on young children. This is because in my culture children are important for the future, whereas other team members disagreed. I agree that national culture is a significant factor which has an impact on the team work. Each person’s cultural background affects the way that person thinks and make a choice for decision making. Multi-cultural teams are likely to be creative but co-ordination can be a problem. Differences in behaviours and values have to be appreciated to work successfully in multicultural teams. In addition, to reflect on teamwork process and effectiveness with regards to my contribution to the group. According to Belbin’s team role test I am a shaper. ‘Belbin Team Roles are used to identify people's behavioural strengths and weaknesses in the work place’ (Belbin Associates, 2012). The characteristics of a shaper that I strongly possess are that I am a task focused person, who has a high motivation to achieve the goal and tried to make my contributions in order to meet a high standard. I also provided the necessary drive to ensure that the team kept moving and did not lose focus into achieving the aims of the exercise. About my team members that I have observed, with regards to their decision making characteristics, people from low power distance cultures tend to rely on same level of participation. Whereas, people from high power distance cultures rely more on rules and the opinion of superiors. Furthermore, this exercise was implemented in a short period of time during seminar. Therefore it is difficult to reflect on team work process and effectiveness. In my opinion, our group worked well together. However, stage of team development is also a significant factors affecting team working. In the future, it can be recommended that we should follow the five stage model of team development by Bruce Tuckman’s. “This model describes the phases which teams tend to go through from their inception to the successful completion of the project, and highlights the areas which may cause the team and the project to fail” (Wilson, 2010). The process can help our group reach effectiveness more quickly. My learning with regards to team work and cultural different team empowers me in terms of being able to cope and manage the future challenges with regards to multicultural teams. Historical Context When we talk about the British in the twenty first century and people today, they were people who have evolved and revolutionized both in their culture and way of living with time and with what they have gone through. They have been learning from the formation along with them separating from the British colonies to the time when UK was formed under the crown. The death of Diana, Princess of Wales made the British realize as to how publicly they can express their grief and sorrow. They publicly started to express their sorrows for people they have lost which was something missing in the British culture and society. Another important change in their culture was floral expression of grief and sorrow. With time all the cultures evolve however when we talk about British culture it changed but the change was never that huge or a drastic one. My Learning Styles According to my learning styles I am both of a reflector and an activist. I am a reflector as I view things according to my experiences and from different perspectives. I observe students and I listen to teachers teaching and theories about culture before group exercise are offered. I am an activist too I intend mostly to do things first and then learn from them. I enjoy doing things and I tend to act first and consider the implications afterwards. I have an open minded approach to learning, involving myself and without bias in new experiences of different culture. Conclusion In the global world like today, one cannot ignore the importance of cultural differences in the society and its impact on each and every field of the society from day to day tasks to operational decisions, from achieving and focusing on the short term goals to the long term commitments (Ted. Plafker 2013). Over all in the world today it is essential to realize the importance of cultural differences in the society; one cannot take any decision whether it is on a personal level or on a professional level without taking into account the cultural importance and significance. Culture is what society is following and believing in thus from decisions like what to eat, where to eat, what to wear, where to go, when to marry, how to marry, whom to marry and all kinds of personal decisions are impacted by the cultural background and significance and same is the case with the professional decisions like where to work, if starting a business what will work in the society and in the culture you are living in. If business expansion is required then decisions like how to expand, where to expand and all kinds of decisions like this are taken into account and followed and is important to realize that with an increase in globalization cultural importance is increasing as well and one needs to understand its importance. All these cultural impacts need to be properly considered before any decision is taken. Reference Atwong, C. T., and I. L. Lange. 1996. How collaborative learning spans the globe. Marketing News 30, no. 17: 16-17. Biró, M. 2000. 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